Comment 223 for bug 1

Only if we could get institutions like universities, government agencies, schools, NGOs to use linux, we would have a serious shot at eliminating this bug for good. people are exposed to and use these institutions' computers and get used to whatever they provide. this is my girlfriend's idea, who says if this was the case when she first started studying at her university, where she had to work extensively with that institution's computers, she wouldn't have any problems switching to linux for good. but right now, she is a Windows addict and there is no way she will switch (not until XP deprecates and I kinda "force" her to switch instead of purchasing a new pc).

for now, even if a university has a linux box, they hide the OS as much as possible (for example, an old PC at UMBC's parking services runs Debian but hides this by locking the screen in such a way that anyone not familiar with Debian's bookmarks would think that's Windows running).

institutions should be "brave" enough to run and show off their Linux boxes. Moreover, they should be "clever" enough to know that if they run linux, they won't be paying $$$ to licenses.

On the issue of license fees, why would, for example, an animal shelter purchase Microsoft (or go thru the hops and tops of getting free licenses with much effort), especially when the $$ or the effort that goes to MS means their animals' lives... I don't get it...

Institutions need to see how their budget would change for the better without the MS fees and security maintenance efforts... And unfortunately, I don't see a way to let them know about this except by contacting each and every institution one can think of to propose a switch to Linux.